LOCAL ACTION FUND

In the 2025/2026 budget, the ruling Labour group passed a budget line giving each ward an amount of £50,000 to be provided to community groups. I had set up meetings with Cllr Kerr & Cllr Cooper. Unfortunately, Cllr Cooper didn’t manage to attend either of these meetings and myself and Cllr Kerr had positive discussions on where the funds could be best used.

Cllr Cooper then sent a proposal to the relevant team stating I was in agreement with her proposal to provide the full £50k to only one group. This was never the case as I was left out of that meeting.

There are simply too many voluntary groups throughout Ward 5 and it’s therefore impossible to reach out to each one. If we did so, we would have then run the risk of missing some groups. This is why the decisions had to be made by the ward councillors.

There were 3 proposals for ward 5, one from each councillor and this should have been decided at a meeting of the executive group on Thursday 28th August. Cllr Cooper requested this to be delayed until the September meeting so a more general consensus could be discussed. I wasn’t keen on pushing this back any further as I am aware of some groups waiting on decisions being made. However, if I hadn’t agreed to this, no decisions would have been made. I therefore requested a formal meeting take place between the councillors and to include our Head of Legal. I hope this meeting can produce a positive outcome for groups within the area. I shall let you all know what date the meeting in September is. Remember, you can attend these meetings in the council building or watch these on YouTube

LOCAL ACTION FUND

On the 9th of September I attended a meeting between all 3 Ward 5 Councillors with our head of legal services also in attendance.

This meeting was to discuss the allocation of £50,000 from the Local Action Fund and was to try get a proposal that all 3 councillors could get behind.

After many discussions it was decided that the following proposal be put forward:

Friends of Stonehouse Park - £12k to purchase a generator to be used for community events;

Strathaven Rugby Club - £20k towards the renewable energy system to form part of their new multi-sports facility

Targeted improvements to public spaces across the ward, which might include renovation/purchase of benches and installation of bird proof litter bins - £8k

Improvements to the area in and around Auldhouse, which may include upgrading of playpark equipment - £10k

I’m pleased to report that this proposal passed on 24th Septembe